That Don't Make No Sense
by RhiannonNymph
Summary: Crossover with Firefly What happens when the fringe of the 'Verse is sporting a Stargate? [WIP]
1. What do you suppose that was?

DISCLAMIER: I don't own anything. The characters of each show belong to their respective owner – MGM, Mutant Enemy, FOX (if they still have anything to do with it – damn them!), and good old Joss Whedon (though not so much good after that movie) :(

Takes place after Conversion for Atlantis and Objects in Space for Firefly (including those not aired on TV but are on the DVD), so anything before and during those episodes is fair game.

For anyone who doesn't know what Firefly is, don't worry, you don't have to have seen the show to enjoy this…I hope. Everything will be explained. Although I HIGHLY recommend the show and the movie that just came out (Serenity) and think everyone here should go see it. You'll love it…do it for me, it was my birthday a few days ago!

--

Chapter One: What do you suppose that was?

"Well that was a waste of my very precious time." Dr. Rodney McKay said as he walked a few paces behind Teyla on their way back to the Stargate.

Teyla rolled her eyes, made mental note to speck with Lt. Col. Sheppard about always being paired off with him, before she spoke to him, "Major Lorne could not have known that the energy readings would be of no use." The next part she added to inflate his ego and hopefully get him to shut up, "They haven't a man such as you on their team."

"Yes, well…are we almost back to the 'gate?" he said as he pushed back the branches of the tree lined path they'd made through the woods. It seemed no matter where they went in the galaxy they had to carve a path through a ridiculously dense forest to get where they were going, yet the area surrounding the 'gate was wide and open. Not that he minded the last stretch of returning to the 'gate, he just wished the entire walk could be like that. Always.

Teyla sighed inwardly; she'd give anything to be with one of the others. Sometimes she wanted to just walk up to Ronan and tell him to take McKay, she was sure he'd not complain so much after a mission in his company. But then it would be just herself and John, and though they'd "talked" about it, the kiss he'd given her still weighed on them. No one noticed really, the awkward silences, the fractured eye contact. Maybe it would be good for them, she shouldn't have been so quick to dismiss him when he'd tried to speak with her before.

The great exhale she heard from behind brought her back to her present surroundings as they stepped into the 'gates clearing. The exhale from McKay was quickly followed by a groan, "We have to wait now?" he tapped the little radio in his ear so that he could talk to John, "Where are you?"

"_We're on our way back. Something going on I should know about?" _the tone of his voice told McKay he'd better not be calling to complain.

"No, just…" what could he say? "…just wanted to make sure you and Ronan are ok."

_We're fine. Sit tight, we'll be there in a few. Sheppard out." _and that was the end of the conversation. As he and Teyla approached the 'gate he pulled out a power bar and plopped down onto the hard ground and leaned against the stone of the Stargate. Teyla stood back, and watched him. Nearly two years she'd known this man now, gotten to learn his habits and hit ticks and what buttons to push to get him to do what must be done. She'd seen him do amazing things, risk his life for his people. He was an interesting person.

"What? Why are you eyeing me like that? I'm hungry." He said with little crumbs falling from his lips, she was about to respond when the gate suddenly sprang to life, the symbols rapidly locking into place. McKay quickly rolled away from the 'gate to avoid the balloon that would explode form the circle the minute the wormhole was established. Teyla watched the symbols, hoping to recognize the address, but she didn't. Then to both her and McKay's surprise an eighth symbol locked into the sequence.

McKay's jaw dropped, "But…it, it shouldn't…it can't – really – I mean…" the frantic rambling sentence continued in his head and he only vaguely heard Teyla telling John to get here soon. McKay's mind frantically searched for a way for this to be possible and was just about to say something when a great blast of energy came from the 'gate throwing them back and spit a large wave of energy up into the sky.

Sheppard and Ronan rushed into the clearing as the 'gate was shutting down. No sooner had he reached Teyla, and heard her assurance that she was fine, when he heard the unmistakable sound of something making its way quickly through the planets atmosphere. He helped Teyla up and looked up in time to see a great ball of flame dart across the sky, and shake the ground with its impact.

A few feet away Ronan pulled McKay to his feet and roughly dusted him off, "You're fine, shut up."

"Well that's easy for you to say – you didn't almost die!"

Ronan ignored the man and walked over to John and Teyla, "What do you suppose that was?"

"I don't know. McKay," John turned to Rodney, "dial Atlantis." He said, and then turned his head back to the sky, his eyes following the dark smoke trail left by the…thing. "I want to check that out."

"Yeah, no, I'm fine. I almost died, but it's ok, I'll move on – forget it ever happened…"he mumbled as he dialed the address for Atlantis.

After a few minutes spent convincing Elizabeth that everything would be ok, and that they were just going to look around, _not_ touch anything, she gave them the go ahead with instructions to check back with her in three hours. The last remnants the blue wormhole disappeared into the air as John readjusted his pack, and looked around at his team. The ever graceful, dark skinned Teyla, whose gaze he could barely hold, the dread locked runner, Ronan, and McKay, the whiniest scientist he'd ever met.

"Ok, lets go." And sure enough, flanked by his warrior teammates, Rodney brought up the rear, muttering under his breath about the trees and rocks, and brush he'd have to climb through to see whatever had fallen out of the sky.

--

Inside the yellow, flower lined walls of the Serenity's kitchen nine people sat around the wooden table, talking, laughing, and slowly consuming the different sized blocks of brown protein bars. It wasn't much, and it wasn't something you really wanted to eat everyday, but out in the black, when you're on the edge of the 'Verse you had to make do with what you had.

There was laughter coming from nearly every person at the table, River sat, her dark hair hanging all around her next to her brother, quiet as always. Jayne sat next to Book, trying to figure out exactly what kind of action he'd slept through the night before, but Book just sat there and smiled, and said how he'd disliked the violence and it wasn't something he felt he should speak on, but that wasn't likely to stop Jayne.

Zoë and Wash, as was usual, were all wrapped up in each other not much paying attention to the others. This was fine with Simon, the gunshot wound Early had left him with throbbed, sending pain from his thigh down to his very toes. He caught the occasional worried glance from Kaylee when she broke from keeping the Captain and Inara's conversation civil-like, if anybody realized he was hurting it would be her, or River, though River would never show it, she'd just say something obscure and he'd spend an hour wondering what she meant.

Captain Malcom Reynolds and Inara were having the same conversation they always had, Mal would comment on her job and the like, and she'd get to calling him a petty thief. But Mal did shoot Simon a look every now and then. He wasn't sure if was concern, or a look telling him he was a bai chi ben dan. He didn't much care either, just so long as no one asked how he was doing.

"Simon…" Kaylee said from her seat on the other side of him, he looked at, her sweet hazel eyes, framed by light brown hair. She cared so much for him, he could hardly find the time, or way to tell her how he felt, "…you doin' ok?"

He smiled, he wasn't sure why they kept asking him that, like they was trying to remind him that he ruined River's plan and gotten shot. Why didn't they ask Mal if he was ok, he'd gotten beaten a fair bit, or River for that? Of course River's answer would be the same, or something crazy. It hit him then that he wasn't ok, in the physical sense sure he was, the pain would go away, but he was angry.

Angry at him self, he'd gotten shot to save his sister, who didn't need it. Of course he hadn't known that. He thought she was turning her self in and that made him angry more than scared. He glanced over at River, he'd thought he'd given up his whole life to save her, and she'd been willing to leave him a fugitive and go back to her torture.

"I-" he didn't get a chance to finish before the ship lurched to the side a bit. The now quieted eyes flicked off him and to the entrance of the engine room, and the hallway that led to the bridge.

Wash and Kaylee stood and made their way to their second homes. Moments later Kaylee emerged from the engine room, a small amount of grease now smeared on her face and hands.

"Ain't nothing back there Capt'n."

On Serenity's bridge Wash looked over the panels and screen surrounding his fur covered pilot's chair. It didn't make sense, there were some ridiculous energy readings coming from somewhere. "Ai ya…" he whispered once he looked out the wide windows into the black. Only it wasn't black, there was a planet and something else.

"Captain, your gonna want to look at this! He shouted back down the hall, "Iche chaŭn ushe…"

"What is…" Mal trailed off and tilted his at the sight before him. Behind him the rest of the crew had followed, and taken much the same action as he had.

"It's kinda pretty." Kaylee said, as the smallish floating ring sprang to life with a bright blue bubble of sorts.

"What is it?" Jayne asked.

In the back of the room, close to her brother's side, River whispered. "Chappai." She didn't know what that was, but she knew that something was about to happen, and she shouted, "SIT! Sit, bumpy ride, bumpy. We're going far, Simon, far, far. Sit!" she pulled him back towards the kitchen, with its small common area where there were seats to strap into. Kaylee and Inara followed them out, trying to help him walk as fast she was pulling, or to get her to let go.

They hadn't even put to feet through the door to the kitchen when the ship shook violently, tossing about its inhabitant.

"Serenity…what's wrong?" Kaylee said, again making her way to the engine. But again the ship shook, and Jayne came stumbling through the doorway.

"Captain strap in!" he shouted, grabbing Simon by the arm, hauling him to a seat and strapping him in, "Cant have you scuffed up more'n usual now can we doc? What if someone gets 'emselves hurt?" in Jayne's own playful way he slapped the side of Simon's face before moving over to Kaylee. Inara helped River to a set and then herself. With the seats now all occupied, Jayne turned to go back to the bridge, when a blue light came rushing down the hall from the bridge and filled the room, then a violent, unrelenting variation rocked the ship. He was tossed back and forth, finally managing to grab hold of the square column that ended the countertop. Chairs had all fallen over, pots and pans, and various containers had fallen, spilled their contents and whisked past them on the floor.

"Gorramit…what the hell is going on."

"New world. Saying hello." River said, calm as ever.

"Shut – your- crazy-- moon---pie----mouth!" Jayne shouted moments before he flew up to the ceiling and back down. The ship had hit ground, hard, and was skidding to a halt, evidenced by Jayne's unconscious body sliding across the floor with everything else.

On the bridge, Wash let go of the controls, he'd set her down as smooth as possible for being a crash and all. He looked over to where his wife and captain sat, strapped in, and said, "What do you suppose that was?"

--

End part one, hope you like it! Let me know, R and R please!


	2. The Stand off, well sorta

You know what I just realized? I forgot Book! Where was he when everything was happening! I'll fix it, I promise! And also, Kaylee's eyes are more a hazel color, so I'll change that too.

Lennexa – I know, I just wanted to cry! I was heartbroken! Which is why we're only post-OiS.

--

Chapter Two: The Stand off, well sorta

Sitting in the dark of Serenity's insides, her crew called out to each other. Simon was now the one asking the question he'd dreaded earlier. Kaylee, River, Inara were all fine, maybe a bit bruised from a bumpy landing that should'a hurt them all something worse. Simon unhooked the strap holding him down and hobbled over to Jayne's body, the crash definitely hadn't done his leg a world of good.

"He isn't bleeding…" he pushed his hand into Jayne's neck, checking his vitals; Inara came over and kneeled next to him, "We still need to get him to the infirmary though."

"I'll see to the others. I'm sure they all found a seat, but-" she was doing as much for herself as to help the doctor…Mal was on the bridge.

"Yes, thank you. I'll be there in a moment." She stood and made her way through the debris of the kitchen. Simon turned to the two women that meant so much to him. Kaylee was helping River leading her through the mess toward her brother.

"So close to what was Simon. Can we go there?"

"Uh…I don't, I don't know River, mei-mei, you have to stay with Kaylee. I'll be back." He quickly placed his hand on her cheek, smiled, and then gave Kaylee the same thankful smile, and he moved toward the bridge, "Let me know if he wakes up." Then he was moving down the dark hall as quick as his leg would let him. He'd made it half way there when Inara came rushing back.

"Mal, Zoë, and Wash are okay, but Book – he says he's fine but he didn't have anywhere to sit." He didn't have to say a thing, it was one of the things he liked about Inara, he didn't have to do any yelling towards her about what to do, she just did it. She pulled his arm over her shoulder and helped him along to where Book sat in the hall near to bridge, his head in his hands.

Simon did his darndest to squat by the older fella, but had to sit due to the pain in his leg. He heard the captain rattle off commands to Zoë and Wash – "You find how banged up we are, if we're humped I wanna know how bad. Zoë you and me gonna check out the rest'a Serenity. KAYLEE!" he shouted coming out of the doorway. He looked down at Simon and Book, "Doc?" he asked, he knew Simon was going to answer him, hell he wanted to hear what the boy had to say, but there was things to be done, and the doc knew what he was doing, Book was safe in boys hands so Mal went on his merry, lookin' for Kaylee. He passed Jayne by figurin' him to be ok seenin' as he was left, and found Kaylee back in the engine room, where he was gonna send her anyhow. River was sitting in Kaylee's hammock, while the mechanic scrambled about the engine room lookin' for damage.

"How'd we fair?"

Kaylee looked up at her captain; she couldn't quite figure how it was he was always so calm. "She's shorted a bit in some places…" she trailed off, her eyes dropping to the ground. He hated when she went an' did things like that, meant only something worse could come of it. Sure enough, she looked up and said, "Cap'n…we, she got busted a bit. A few things. And I'm scared to think how she's lookin' on the outside."

Damn. _Ta ma duh! Nee ta ma duh tyen-shia sou-yo duh run doh gai si. _He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Broken? This ship, his ship, his baby…broken? He 'sposed it wasn't the first time, but hell if it wasn't the worst. He couldn't even rightly say where they were. "Well we ain't going nowheres, so keep a sharp eye and make sure we ain't to worse off."

He made his way back up to the bridge, past Jayne, then Inara, Book, and Simon. He stepped through the door just a Zoë was coming back up from the underside of the bridge.

"She ain't prettys lookin' Sir." Zoë said, stoic yet concerned.

"Zoë, you an me is gonna help the doc get the Shepherd and Jayne down to the infirmary, make sure you got yourself a gun, we're taking a look outside then."

"Yes Sir."

By the time they'd made on down to the infirmary, Jayne, was nearly walkin' on his own, complain' a back pain; Simon came behind them, wincing with every step he took but kept silent, Mal was fair impressed with the Doc, not sayin' a word, him not being one to get injured much and there Jayne was, wounded more than most – howling like a dog. Inara and Book brought up the rear; they settled everyone into place all proper and headed for the air-lock.

"Sure we should be goin' out there just us two, Sir?"

"I ain't never sure 'bout nothing Zoë, I thought you knew that by now. 'Sides ain't no one else of much help, all hurt and bleeding. We can do this, like old times." Old times, like during the war, when the only one they could depend on was the other. Neither one of them much cared to remember the warring times they'd shared, so instead'a lingerin' on it, Mal pushed the button to open the air-lock.

--

John split his team in two, Teyla and Ronan, himself and McKay. On one hand he was glad to not have to worry about Teyla for the moment. Since the brief and awkward apology he'd offered for something he only regretted the context of, he'd been trying to stay away. He wasn't sure if she'd been so abrupt because she wasn't interested, or because she didn't know what to make of it, or maybe it was that 'context' again. But there was always the other hand, and right now that hand was talking up a storm just a few feet back.

"I can't believe we're looking at this. We should be looking at that gate. That was an eight symbol address, Colonel, do you have any idea what that means? What that could potentially lead us to?"

"Tell me…" John muttered under his breath. McKay was about to continue his rant when Teyla's voice sounded in his ear.

"_Have you reached it yet?"_ it might have been wrong of him, but for just a moment John wished they'd been somewhere else, and that that had been a sweet nothing, and that Ronan wasn't so keen to know Teyla.

"No." damn their natural swiftness. Having lived with the threat of the Wraith all their lives, and especially the last seven years for Ronan, they'd learned to move quickly.

"_It is…"_ there was an intake of breath over the radio, it was that sound she always made when she saw something incredible, "_very…were it not damaged I am sure it would be quite stunning."_

"It? There's an it? What kind of it?" Rodney's panicked voice asked as he stepped farther and faster to reach Sheppard's side.

"We'll be there. Hold fire."

"_Yes."_

Teyla lowered her hand back to her P-90, she glanced at Ronan a few feet away, she wanted to make sure he'd heard that he was not to fire. He acknowledged her with a nod and set his prized weapon to stun. She remembered what that gun blast felt like, and it wasn't a very good memory.

She wasn't sure if that meant he'd do as he was told or not, sometimes it seemed he had trouble doing as John – Colonel Sheppard asked. She looked back out at the great ship that had fallen, it was a sight, and it stopped her mind from wondering other paths. It was, she noted, quite elegant in its design. Almost birdlike, though dented and clearly missing some "feathers" as it were. There were what seemed to be several large holes, though none apparently deep enough to breech the ships inter sanctum. Which may or may not be a good thing, only time would tell.

On the other side of the clearing, or what passed for a clearing, that the ship had made she spotted movement in the brushes.

"Colonel?"

"_Here. You were right…wow."_

She laughed to herself, for a man with such military background he did seem to often posses the qualities of someone…less inclined to be defined by a certain role. She was about to question him as to what they should do when a movement to her left caught her eye, Ronan, had disappeared into the woods, and as she tried to say this, something else happened. The ship's door opened, into what she could only guess was the hanger.

The door touched down, creating a ramp, which two human people, a man and a woman, walked down, weapons in hand, eyes scanning. She crouched lower to the ground, if they saw her, they may just open fire. Their pants were of the same design. Were they some kind of military force? The man long brown coat moved with the breeze, as did his brown hair. The woman wore a red shirt and a brown vest over it. They must be a military.

"_Teyla, when I say, you and Ronan stand, got it?"_ it was like him to not even wait for a reply.

Across the way she heard his unmistakable voice call out. "WE COME IN PEACE." In a second both hand their weapons trained on John's body, his arms in the air to show he meant what he said. Friends before enemies.

"What! What are you – are you crazy? Do you _want _them to shoot at us?" McKay said, desperately trying to pull John's body back down.

"Stand up." He looked down at McKay, "Get up. TEYLA, RONAN, GET UP." Slowly both McKay and Teyla stood, one gun swung around to Teyla's direction.

"Teyla?" John said, knowing that if Ronan were to do something foolish he may very well get them all killed.

"Come out here, all you." The man said, he waved his gun toward the center of the "clearing", and then they'd be directly in font of the ships hanger doors.

"Their minus one, Sir." The dark skinned woman said as they all came to stand in front of the pair.

"Now, we're peaceable folk, and you seem to know how to go about keepin' you and yours from getting' shot." The comment was directed at John, the man in the brown coat knew he had to be the leader, "So do your self a favor, get your other man out here 'fore someone gets hurt."

John gave a little smile and a shake of his head, hopefully this wouldn't be something he regretted. "RONAN…GET THE HELL OUT HERE."

"Hey, Mal, what we got?" a third man came hobbling out from the ship, a very large gun in hand. "Hostages?"

"They ain't hostages." Mal said.

"Look like hostages. Why else you Zoë'd have gun on em?"

Mal closed his eyes in exasperation, John could relate, he looked over to McKay, who was none to pleased with the situation Sheppard had landed them in. Then Mal spoke to the other man, "Jayne. Why ain't you in the infirmary? Doc say you could be out here?"

"Hell, that boy can't tell me what to do. Heh, sure'd like him to try though."

Ronan chose that moment to walk from the bushes, hands up, doing as he knew Sheppard wanted, but the lines of displeasure were clear on his face. The third man, Jayne, trained his gun on Ronan's moving figure until he stood next to Teyla, just as still.

"My name is Colonel Jo-"

"I tell you to talk? Zoë did I tell him to talk? Did I ask something?"

"No Sir."

"We gonna shoot em?" Jayne asked with a slight smile, his finger closing just a bit tighter over the trigger of his gun. "Ain't fired Vera in some time." He shifted the gun lovingly in his hands, "Done slept through everything last night…look at that one" he thrust Vera in Rodney's direction, "he looks dai ruo mu ji." He started laughing.

"Bee-jway Jayne." Mal said, Jayne tried to say something but was cut off. "I'm Captain Malcom Reynolds as you know since Jayne there likes to yell my name to all the folk we come across, and this here is Zoë, first mate. Now here's how this is gonna play out. I ask, you answer. I'm a simple man, so don't go tryin' to complicate things none."

McKay rolled his eyes, he felt like he was suck in a bad western, where the good guys lost – _due to faulty planning_, he wanted to shout.

"What's the name of this rock?"

"PX6-771." John answered, "Mind if we put our arms down? Getting kinda tired here."

"Tell me the mane of this and sure."

John took a deep breath, "PX6-771, at least that's what we call it. If anybody lived here they may have called it something different." He slowly lowered his arms, followed by the rest of his team. The three people with the upper hand, and the big ship, started blankly at them, when the captain lowered his weapon, so did the others, Jayne reluctantly.

"Don't make no sense Mal."

--

Ok, sorry I know it's like a lot of nothing, but next time will be better, I swear, there's gonna be a nice sit down and everything. In the mean time R and R people!

Oh and translations in order for which the Chinese appears in the story:

F- me blind. F- everyone in the universe to death.

Shut up.

Dumb as a wooden chicken, paralyzed with fear.

Oh and P.S. I hate WORD's red squiggles.


	3. Ain't Possible

Sorry for the wait, midterms and the like. Bleh…anyway, there was more to this, but I really wanted to post something, and since I didn't finish the next part, I figured I turn it into chapter four.

I hope you like it and don't think I'm boring and dragging things out. I think having so many people to make sure I account for his driving me crazy…thankfully…I have something in mind for later on that should hopefully make that easier….(snickers) Also Chinese isn't a language I think McKay speaks, at least that's what I'm going with.

Enjoy.

--

Chapter Three: Ain't Possible

"Listen," John started to say, he had to explain to these people that he and his team weren't the bad guys. And while his gun, as well as Teyla and Ronan's could be aimed and ready to fire in a second, these guys didn't seem to know what was going on, or even where they are – which, John though, was understandable given they'd just fallen out of space. Which left John with another question: what planet were they from and how come they hadn't met before. Not even the Genii had space ships; these people could be real allies. The three standing before him stared at him and his team, "If we could all sit down and talk and be…peaceable…" he repeated Mal's earlier word, it sounded strange in his mouth.

"Colonel?" for some reason John got the feeling like the title had meaning to the man, that he knew what it was…but that wasn't possible, "You Alliance?"

"They don't look it Sir." Zoë said, eyeing them all cautiously. John figured she was probably trying to see if they'd concealed any weapons on their person.

"Uh…no, United States Air Force…well I mean, I am, they're not."

"And where's that? I didn't see any settlements. And also, where they from then?"

"Well your plane did crash, didn't it? I doubt you were looking vary hard." McKay said, his arms crossed over his chest. A sideways glance and raised eyebrows from John told him this wasn't the time to be cocky, they were after all, trying to make nice. Rodney looked back at the ship's captain, "But of course you're….right. There are no settlements. No one lives here."

"Well, he's from Canada, and apparently Canadians have problems knowing when to keep their mouth shut." John said, again glaring toward to man on his right.

"Oh, me? Who's the one that ran out here, yelling 'we come in peace, we come in peace'. This isn't some move Colonel, what if they'd shot us down, hmm? Then what? Where would Atlantis be without us, and especially me? I tell you, the bottom-"

"ENOUGH." Mal's eyes went from the ranting McKay back to John, "You always let him on like that? Don't seem very leaderly, letting a man go on such as that. Likely to get you all killed."

"Colonel Sheppard is a good man, and an excellent leader, I would not have joined his people were it otherwise." Teyla said. Mal stared at the only woman standing in the line before him. She was strong no doubt, reminded him of Zoë. Strong, level headed, loyal to a fault. And he trusted her, something in her dark eyes told him she wasn't lying.

"Jayne go fetch Kaylee, bring her on down to the common area, Wash too."

"Mal, you just gonna bring onboard?"

"Ain't gonna tell ya twice Jayne." The goateed man walked away, squinting back at the four odd dressed people at the foot of the ramp, mumbling to his self. The dark, curly haired woman, walked up to Mal, and stood just slightly in front and to the side of him, her back to the group.

"He ain't wrong Sir."

"Well Zoë, we're crashed somewhere we ain't never been before. I reckon these folk can help, 'les you got a better idea, I don't see no other choice than to find out what these people know."

"Just sayin' is all."

"And you know I appreciate that, but like I said-" he keep eyein' the four people before him, he knew Zoë wasn't one to trust easy and he couldn't convince her otherwise about these people, he just had to hope his instincts wasn't far off and they would be of help.

"No other choice. Understood, but I still don't trust them." She glanced back over her shoulder at their new "friends", whatever the Captain was seeing, she was missin'.

"Make sure the Doc and his sister is outta sight." Mal whispered to her. Looks could be deceivin', and he wasn't about to let them two be seen, not til he knew for certain. She nodded and headed into the ship's interior. "Now, you can follow me and we can sort this mess out like civil men, or you can turn tail and leave, ain't got need of friends don't trust me."

"Well, actually, it'd probably be better if you came-"

"Ain't following you anywhere 'til I know what's the what on this here planet. Also, that ain't one the options I gave you so, Colonel, if you don't mind, I do have some repairs to see to."

John stood for a moment, and just looked at the man before him, the man he'd given the upper hand. He didn't feel the particular need to go inside, but if that's the way it had to be…he couldn't just leave. These people were the first for the Atlantis expedition to meet that actually had a spacecraft, and while it was definitely not up to Ancient standards, they could still be an asset against the Wratih. So, he nodded his head, "Ok."

"What! We're going in there? What if they just want to make us comfortable before they butcher us?" McKay shouted, never one to hide what he's thinking, and he thought John was being an ass.

"Well you can see plain as day we ain't Reavers, plus how you gonna help me fix up my ship if you're dead?" Mal smiled at him, "Though you will be leaving your weapons. Dong ma?"

"What's a-" McKay started to ask, but Mal was in no mood for games.

"This here offerin' a'mine; it's limited."

McKay's eyes shot back from Mal to John, surely John would never agree to that? But when Rodney saw John unlatching his P-90 and realized that the silent command had been given, he looked to Teyla, hoping she'd hold out against such absurd commands. But of course, Teyla tended to trust, and she'd do what John asked of her. Strangely enough it was with Ronan that McKay found himself aligned. Ronan who stood, silently, arms crossed, begging someone to try and take his weapons from him. The dread-locked man's eyes roamed over the ship, taking in every detail. He took in the stairs, the seemingly grated walls, the various walkways, the light from the door at the far end, and even the cargo that was tied down and the…the four-wheeler?

_Well_, Rodney thought, _not something you see everyday in the Pegasus galaxy._ Clearly there was something about this ship, the things and people on it that wasn't right. And Sheppard was obviously too blinded by stupidity to notice it. He would have to figure it out. He unclipped his holster and slowly removed his gun.

"You too." Mal said, indicating Ronan. When McKay looked over again, he was still standing as he had before, defiantly, but now he was staring down Mal.

"Ronan, I'm sure they don't bite." John said. He shot Mal a nervous smile and moved over to Ronan's side. He half whispered to him, "Let's go."

"I'm not unarming myself. And I can't believe you have. We don't know these people, do you have any idea what you're doing? Is this what they train you in back on your world Sheppard?" Ronan had fully turned to fix his disbelief on John.

"No, but I have a feeling. And besides, we didn't always know each other." John replied.

"Which is why I shot, unarmed, and then tied you up." He practically spit the events of their first meeting back in his face. He'd taken out both Sheppard and Teyla before they knew what was happening.

"But _then _we got to know each other and everything worked out great." Ronan's dark eyes burned into John's hazel ones. The man was stubborn, and not dropping his weapon. "Fine, stay here, just…don't do anything stupid." He turned and started up the ramp, McKay and Teyla at his heels.

"Like walk, unarmed into an opening, waving my arms around while three armed men take aim?"

John turned back to look at Ronan, and sent him a glare, playful, but a glare none-the-less, and said, "And try not to touch anything."

The three followed Mal into his ship as Ronan walked to a nearby tree and sat down, shaking his head.

--

Zoë was just about to pass though the door to the infirmary when Jayne came down the stairs with Wash, Kaylee and River behind him.

"Kaylee," she said, "Get River to her room, Captain's bringin' some folk on board, don't look to be Alliance, but we ain't sure."

"Oh…ok." Kaylee's cheerful eyes quickly glazed over with concern. They all knew what'd happen to River should the Alliance get a'hold of her, and Simon's fate wouldn't be much finer. Kaylee reached back to River and took her hand, leading her away from the common area and back to her and Simon's rooms.

"Mal's bringin' Alliance on?" Wash asked, "Even possible Alliance, what's he playin' at?"

"Ain't sure myself, but the don't look the part, and they say no one lives on this rock, so they're lookin' to be our best chance to get back in the air." She told him before walking into the infirmary, where the ever careful Simon was given Book the once over.

Book was trying to push Simon's hands away from him head, trying to get the boy to listen, but if wounds was involved it was best to sit back and let him go, faster for ya to get back with the way of things. "Captain wants you in back with you sister. Precautions, all."

His eyes too glazed over, though his was less concern and more fear, not for himself neither, for his sister. Boy possessed love for her like none other…'cept maybe Kaylee, but gorram if he could get the words out.

"Don't worry Doc, they say they're…United States Air Force or such."

A kind of curious look over took the young mans face, like he wanted to remember something, but it just wouldn't come. "Uh, yes, of course. I'll…go to my room…" he walked over to the door, followed by two sets of very curious eyes, "I'll want to, uh, to look at that again…to make sure…" and he walked away.

"That seem a mite odd to you?" Book asked.

"Everything's seemin' a mite odd these days Shepherd."

--

When John, Teyla and Rodney entered what Mal kept referring to as the common room, they were greeted by the semi-familiar faces of Zoë and Jayne, and also sitting in one of the seats was a brown haired girl, John could only assume was Kaylee, wearing a smudged greenish brown jumper smiled widely at him and his team. There was a blonde haired man in a loud Hawaiian style t-shirt, and older looking black man, who, by the looks of it, had suffered some minor injury and he was being supported by a very beautiful, dark haired woman. Rodney and Teyla took of the space remaining on the couch; John took the chair next to that.

"That there is Wash, my pilot." Mal nodded to the blonde man, who offered a wave. "Kaylee, the best gorram mechanic in the verse." He smiled at her, and she beamed at him, "And Shepherd Book, and Inara." The elder man was sitting on the other side of the couch, flanked by Jayne and the woman who simply smiled at them.

"Ok…" John started, looked like it was his turn. "Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard," he pointed at himself, "this is Teyla, and Dr. Rodney McKay."

As if to clear up any confusion McKay added, "Of astrophysics." The last thing he needed was for these people to ask to be patched up. Flying around in a spaceship in this deteriorating condition one would think they'd know enough to have an actual physician aboard.

There was a long silence between the two groups as they each sought to determine what the other was up to, and if they were to be trusted.

"So…maybe there should be some talking going on. You sure they ain't… " The blonde haired man, Wash, finally said, as he indicated the area behind him with his eyes.

"Well…don't seem to know us." Mal said.

"Oh, well of course then, it's settled. They don't know _us_." He gave the captain a very pointed look and continued on, now talking to the three before him. "I hear you folk ain't from this planet. Where are you from then?"

John opened his mouth to reply but someone answered for him, "Earth-that-was.", although he didn't know what the "that-was" part of it meant. He wasn't sure what bothered him more; the look of panic to run across all their faces or the fact someone knew his home-world. From behind Wash, a young, dark haired man spoke. His crystal blue eyes met John's, and John could tell the boy was in a state of total disbelief.

"Simon…" Zoë practically hissed at him.

"It was the United States Air Force that made me think of it."

"Can we go there?"

If John thought that panic had rushed across their faces earlier, then he wasn't sure what to call what he'd just witnessed. Every head, every set of eyes was instantly glued to the dark haired girl to the boys left.

"Mei-mei, I…it's not. It can't be true." John wasn't sure what was going on, or who would name their kid 'mei-mei', but she said something he didn't believe, and she stared at him like she couldn't fathom why he'd think she was lying. He maneuvered her to a seat, almost but not completely out of sight and whispered to her before rejoining the group.

Mal and the rest took a bit of ease in the fact no one had made a dash for Simon, or River. Maybe these people wasn't Alliance after all…but Earth-that-was? Impossible. Simon brought around a smallish black case, inside a piece of his world, that more advanced world that was the Central Planets. After tapping on it a few times he spoke into it, "United States Air Force."

A computerized voice started to ramble off dates and events, names and ranks and even a few things John recalled having heard rumors of, but he knew to be classified to the public. The three of them sat there, listening. John imagined his face looked much like Rodney's, scrunched up, eyes moving back and forth processing the information offered. And Teyla…she may not understand some of the things said, but she knew the fact that these people had such knowledge of the expedition's world was wrong, terribly wrong. John needed to forget being friends for the moment, and get these people back to Atlantis with him; they had to know how they knew what they did.

John stood up. "Stop, stop." He looked around at the nine strangers, and surprisingly, they regarded him with the same look he was sure he was giving off. "Where are you getting all that information from?"

"It's history." Simon looked at them, "All of it, I mean, no one's lived on Earth-that-was for a few hundred years."

"So they's liars? Let's shoot 'em." Jayne smiled as his hand took hold of the gun strapped to his side.

John might have felt bad for the boy, the looks he got from his team mates, but he was busy trying to figure out just what was going on. He rubbed his hand through his mess of a hair style and looked to McKay, "Well we sure as hell didn't travel through time."

"No, I-we…it's-" McKay, who would have ended up speechless anyway, was interrupted.

"I'm sorry time travel? That ain't possible."

"I don't know Mal," Wash said, leaning heavily onto a wall, "We got psychics, why not time travel?"

Mal turned on his pilot, "'Cause time travel ain't possible." There was a look in his eye that dared Wash to defy him. He turned to John, "Time travel ain't possible."

It wasn't a question per se, but it was. He wanted John to confirm that the younger man, Simon, was clearly out of his mind. And once upon a time, John might have been able to give the man the confirmation that he wanted, had he been just an ordinary solider. He and his colleagues were anything but ordinary; Atlantis, stargates, Wraith, and even time travel (not that he recalled having ever traveled in time, though he had it on good authority that he once had – and he died at the bottom of the ocean when the Ancient time machine was shot out of the sky).

"Come back with us." Ordering Mal around would get them no where, and he knew that, "Come back to Atlantis and we'll figure this out, we may even be able to help fix up your ship, get you…back." He finished lamely, and looked over at the best genius in the galaxy.

"I don't…it'll take time. Lots of it. I mean I don't even know where to start, the old Elizabeth said they destroyed everything, or that the Ancient who built it took all his notes with him. They must have used the gate somehow – uh, the only thing I can think of is solar flares."

"But we, we wasn't by nothin' that can flare. Was we?" Kaylee asked Wash.

"No. It was a moon, and a black rock at that."

"Black rock?" John asked. His day was getting stranger by the minute.

Mal tore his eyes from Wash and came to stand not three feet from John, and he stared him down. "Uninhabitable. Now, you mean to tell me we traveled through ruttin' time?"

"Of course _you_ did. The 'Gate didn't establish a wormhole until the _eighth_ chevron, that requires an incredible about of energy. Whenever you came from, wherever it was, you're not there anymore. Eight chevrons indicate another galaxy. You won't get back without us; you need to come to Atlantis."

"Captain don't take kindly to strangers given' orders on his boat." Zoë said, walking toward McKay, who pushed himself further into the couch.

"He didn't mean it as an order Zoë." Kaylee came to his defense, "Right?" she asked him, he shook his head at her, but Zoë didn't move back, she just stared him down. John shook his head, what was with these people and staring? Kaylee spoke again, "They're sayin' they can help Serenity Cap'n." she gave him a look, and John figured she must be connected to him somehow.

Mal walked over to her, offered her his hand, and pulled her from her seat. He called Zoë over as he corralled the mechanic and pilot into a corner, and started to whisper.

John shifted his weight from foot to foot while he watched. Inara was speaking quietly with Shepherd, Jayne was glaring at anything and everyone, his hand still on his gun, and Simon had knelt down in front of the only person John hadn't heard called by name.

"Tell me straight little Kaylee, are we to be needin' their help?"

"Like I said she's pretty bad off Cap'n. Burnt out in some places, broke in others, some a'her ceramic parts is just pieces now. I could maybe fix her up myself, but…'sides they're nice enough…the Lieutenant Colonels kinda cute." She smiled.

"Well now, what about the doctor?"

"Oh, he's still swai, figure maybe I can make him jealous too…" Mal smiled at her, he knew she liked Simon more and more with each passing day, and he did like to see the boy squirm.

The conversation swung over to Wash, "We're down and blind Mal. Navigation, the Cortex, all of it, and we don't have any power, not even secondary." He paused, "Right now I couldn't fly us out of a paper bag." That hung over the foursome like a very dark and stormy cloud. Wash was the best at what he did, could fly anything, in any condition, through any weather, and if he couldn't do it, then choices were few.

"Zoë?"

"Seems we ain't got a choice Sir." She moved over to console her husband, she placed her hand on the back of his loud Hawaiian shirt as a comfort. Knowing he couldn't get Serenity off the ground had to be killin' him.

"Alright." Mal turned around, "Jayne, Kaylee you're with me, rest'a you stay here."

Teyla stood and for the first time since they'd boarded, spoke, "You should all return with us."

"Teyla, this planet's uninhabited." John said. The Wraith wouldn't waste time searching a planet they knew to have nothing for them.

"The Wraith grow more desperate by the day, they are too many and they know it, Colonel. Soon they will begin to scout planets they haven't visited in centuries." She locked on to his eyes. She always did this when she knew she needed him to make a call, of course she was right. There weren't nearly enough humans in Pegasus to sustain the numbers the Wraith had for long. He wished he saw more than just her fierce determination…he shook his head, now was not the time to wish for Teyla to feel as he did.

He looked at Mal, "She's right, they could show up here." Mal started to speak, "Just trust me ok, they're bad. And if they show up you're going to want to be somewhere else."

"Am I?"

"Yes!" McKay shouted, getting to his feet as well, "If they catch you, they'll" he held his hand up, making a claw shape and waving it in the air, "they'll suck the life right out of you! And they'll…you'll die, slowly."

"Reavers?" Jayne said, hell he didn't know what a Wraith was.

"I don't know what a Reaver is. Listen we can talk about this back on Atlantis." He looked around at the people before him…some didn't seem to belong on the ship, they looked to clean. But none of them deserved to be left for the Wraith, not if they were dead in the water…dirt. "Please."

--

A great line of thirteen people wound back and round trees as they made their way through the last of the forest and into the open field where the Stargate stood, Elizabeth would not be happy when that same line of thirteen emerged on the other side of the wormhole McKay was in the process of establishing.

John, McKay, Mal and Jayne headed the line, Teyla, Zoë, and Ronan brought up the rear with the rest in the middle. It had been Mal's idea to split them that way, he'd said that he was getting a strange feeling from Jayne, some kind of tension between him and Ronan – which John supposed was as it should be, they were the two most suspicious people on either team.

The 'gate sprang to life, "Cap;n…" Kaylee said coming up behind the two men.

"Well, ain't that peculiar."

John was about to ask what they meant by that, but Jayne was quicker. "What is it?"

To everyone's surprise it wasn't Rodney who answered, it was the dark haired girl they'd learned was named River, not mei-mei, and she was the Simon's sister. "Wormhole, connects to points in space by folding space. Very powerful…dematerializes the body to send it…materializes on the other side. Wont take but a moment." She looked around, not at people's faces, but her surrounding, and then to her brother, "Cold."

John was stunned, he wasn't sure why, but he was. Maybe it was the faces of the people that knew her, and the fact that her brother was shrugging his shoulder, letting his Captain know he didn't know what was going on.

Jayne spoke up again, "Well…I don't like the sound'a that."

"It's perfectly harmless, we've been through the stargate dozens of times and we're all fine." McKay said, he wanted to get back to his lab, he wanted to get to work on this new development.

"Seems to me it's done affected your brains, you go on-"

"Jayne."

"Mal he was talkin' ta me like I was an idget."

"Maybe if you didn't say so many stupid things, now get to walkin'."

"I ain't goin' firs'." Jayne said crossing his arms.

McKay, followed by Teyla and Kaylee, an angry Jayne, a married couple, siblings, Inara and Shepherd Book, and finally Ronan, John and Mal all entered the 'gate only to reemerge seconds later on the other side.

"Kinda cold comin' that way." Kaylee said rubbing her arms. The coldness of the group seemed to fade away as awareness of their new surroundings set in. They gasped at the silver paneled, back lit walls of the ancient city, at the multicolored window behind the 'gate. "Shiny."

"Tai-kong suo-yo duh shing-chiou sai-jin wuh duh pee-goo…you can say that again…" Wash said, amazement clear in his voice.

"Colonel!" a voice shouted down from the top of the steps, "What's this?"

Dr. Weir, have we got a story for you." John said as he made his way through the crowd of people he'd brought back with him. When he reached the bottom of the steps, she was already there; he smiled his best innocent smile at her. She wasn't amused, bringing people back to the city meant more people knew it was still there…if they Wraith caught someone who knew that, they'd be back.

--

R and R please…they make me happy when skies are gray, you'll never…oh right, right. Erm...please review!

Chinese in order: Understand?

Little Sister

Handsome

All the planets in space flushed into my butt (gotta love Wash)


	4. Long Day

Um…yeah, it's been awhile. I hope you're all still interested. Any and all reviews are welcome!

--

Chapter Four: Long Days

Dr. Carson Beckett was in the 'gate room in a matter of moments. The Scot led off as many people as he could, leaving only Mal and Zoë behind to attend the debriefing. Nine new people meant a lot of paper work in the infirmary, so while they were getting those seven checked out he'd let the leaders do what they do best: talk.

Ronan had disappeared before Carson had even left the 'gate room. They assumed that he'd chosen not to attend the meeting, and figured it was because he thought Sheppard's actions had been more than stupid, since that's what he was mumbling about as he stalked away.

The group that now consisted of Mal, Zoë, Elizabeth, John, McKay and Teyla headed to the conference room. The doors opened smoothly outward to reveal the odd shaped table that most Atlantians saw everyday. "Pretty nice place ya got here." Mal said taking a seat across from John, Zoë sat between Mal and Teyla. McKay and John were on the other side.

"Thank you." She said as she took her own seat at the head of the table. And thus the meeting commenced. Rodney went over everything that had happened in painstaking detail, especially when it came to John's behavior.

Mal filled them in on their side of the story, pre-crash of course. Told them he didn't know what that gorram ring was, but it had something to do with their current situation. Then McKay went into some ramble, the likes of which Mal figured to rival Simon's doctor speech. Now he didn't understand a whole lot'a what was being said, but he gathered that the ring, Stargate, was a portal and that somehow it'd found power not only to take them to another galaxy, but something else happened and they'd slipped backward in time. According to these folk, the year was only 2005, which is a good 500 years shy of where Mal and his crew ought'a be.

"That's a lot 'a yi yU." Mal said.

"But it does make a certain sense." Zoë said. He looked at her, must be they were hearin' two different conversations.

"You understood all that gos se?"

"Is that…Chinese, right? You're…what did that guy call me earlier?" McKay asked.

--

Elizabeth smiled, and made a mental note to find out what they had called McKay. "I know how this must sound, but I assure you; it's not crap. This actually wouldn't be the first time we've dealt with time travel."

"Time travel and such aside, you folk gonna help me get my boat up and runnin' and back to where we belong?"

For a second she was taken aback by the bluntness with which he asked for help; she looked around at the faces of her people. Rodney, impatient as ever, this was going to be a big challenge for him and if, when he figured it out he'd be more big-headed than ever. Teyla…well…nearly two years together and Elizabeth still had trouble trying to read the Athosian, and John? Well he was easy. She could see in his eyes he wanted them to stay, he wanted to help them and make as many friends for the expedition as possible. She supposed it had something to do with guilt of waking the Wraith, among other things. Her mind glazed over the memory of Colonel Sumner and she smiled at Mal, had to say she wouldn't mind seeing him around for a bit.

"Of course, we'll do what we can." Truth was she had no idea what they'd need or if they'd be able to produce it. Their ship had crashed and that meant parts would be needed, and they had no set up for any kind of parts production, not from scrap.

"You know there's nothing really we can give you. You're gadgets are more fancy than anything I've ever seen and our moneys of no use here." Mal said.

"I'm sure we'll think of something. In the mean time, Dr. McKay will work on how to get you all home, and your welcome to…certain areas of the city. You understand." Elizabeth asked.

--

"I surely do." Though he'd like to wonder the city a bit and see what was there, he figured it to be like any city on a Core world would be, big and shiny, but this one would devoid of feds.

"Well then, I suppose we should get you down to Carson, and then afterwards perhaps a tour before you get settled? If you need to return to your ship at all, let me know."

"Well, my mechanics here, so's my pilot, they'll know what's needed."

Elizabeth stood, followed by the rest of the Atlantis personnel and Mal, Zoë stayed seated. "I was wonderin' about these Wraiths we been hearin' about. What are they?"

Rodney rubbed his hands together, "Well, Ill let you handle this, I've got work to do." He smiled and left the room.

John recanted their first meeting of the Wraith. How he'd ran through the woods with Teyla on her home world, seeing the blue-white stream that stole people to their deaths; that stole his people. He told them of how he'd learn to fly the jumpers and how he and Lieutenant Ford had flown to the rescue. He talked briefly of Sumner, and seeing what the Wraith did to those they ate. Finally he got to the She-Wraith, the one who's death woke all the others, about their superior numbers and the fact they were hard as hell to kill, "So…now their out to find a way back to Earth, to feed on the people there and in the near by systems."

"Well that was an interesting tale. How's about we go get my crew now?" Maybe Atlantis wasn't somewhere they should be for long, he'd dealt with superior numbers as an Independent, and wasn't in a rush to relive those times. He already lost to many people to war he'd lost. 'Sides them damn things sounded worse than Reavers, 'specially since they was hard to kill. Reavers were crazy monsters, but they died like any man would.

John was the one that ended up taking them down to the infirmary, on the way he told them he'd have to send someone else by to take them on a tour; he had already had somewhere else to be and he wanted to keep the promise, for a number of reasons. But he did tell them, that if they wanted another, more _complete_ tour later on, he'd be happy to take them.

They reached the infirmary, John escorted them in and assured them that Dr. Beckett was an excellent doctor and they need not worry. At this point Mal assured John that Dr. Tam was an amazing doctor and took excellent care of him and his crew, and that John and his people shouldn't need to have them "looked at". John stayed silent, he really had nothing to say to that, so he introduced them to Carson and took his leave.

River lay on bed, her head swiveling in different directions, and her fingers moving awkwardly, she almost looked like she might be counting. In a seat next to her was her brother with his arms crossed looking none to please to be in this particular place anymore. Wash was dozing on the bed next to River's with Inara and Kaylee sitting by his feet, whispering to each other; no doubt about the men they saw. Book sat talking quietly with a man lying on a bed with bandaged hands. Across from all of them was Jayne. He was sitting in the same fashion as Simon, only Mal was certain his look was for longing of Vera, his most favorite gun. They'd had to hand over their weapons to get here, but there was a few hidden spots where something might be stashed, just in case, can't never be too careful.

The man they called Carson had dark hair and was in need of a shave, he looked at Mal and Zoë and asked, "Who's first." At first Mal was a bit surprised, man sounded an awful lot like Badger, and it was a mite creepifing.

"'Spose that'd be me." Mal said.

Carson smiled some more and told Zoë she could take a seat and wait. He took Mal over behind a curtain and had him role up his sleeve.

"My crew's not looking to pleased Doctor."

"Aye, the boy, Simon, that one fought me all the way, sayin' he should be takin' the samples." Carson had tied a rubber tube around Mal's upper arm and was preparing to drawl blood, "The others told him it was ok. Even asked me what it was I was doing and what it was for, then I come to that girl…said I wasn't touching her." Mal smiled, he knew that Simon was as strong willed as the rest of 'em, but he wished he'd been there to see it. "And then she started screaming."

"Best to let him have his way when it comes to little River. Be a mite angry with the boy if he didn't fight ya on it." And that was the truth. Much as he wanted to drop them two off sometimes they'd become family and he'd as soon as die as let anything happen to them. They spoke for a while longer, and then Carson took Zoë back and by the time he'd finished collecting her blood, their tour guide had arrived.

"Hello Laura." Carson smiled at the blonde haired, blue eyed girl, "This is Lieutenant Cadman, she's gonna show you around."

"And you'll be doing what with our blood?" Simon asked.

"I told you," he sounded exasperated, "Checkin' for virus' and such, we don't want to kill each other."

To offset the growing tension, Mal introduced himself, quickly followed by the rest of his crew. Laura was just about to get them all to follow her when River slammed her hands down onto the bed and started shouting, "To many. They come and go and come, there's too many." Everyone looked at her, though only Carson and Lt. Cadman with any interest, this was nothing new for the Serenity crew.

"River…" Simon soothed her, getting her to sit up and then stand.

"We shouldn't be here. It's all wrong and they're angry, it's not right. They blame him." She said pointing. Simon slowly turned his head to see what she was pointing at.

"Jayne?"

"Can blame Jayne for a lot of things." Mal said. When Jayne got that look on his face that meant he was about ready to hit someone, he continued, "Relax Jayne, ain't no one blaming you for this."

"Sure looks like you and she is." He said gruffly.

"No." River said, her arms dropping limply to her sides. "He's bright."

"You callin' me stupid?" Jayne practically shouted. Mal could tell things were about to get bad. Jayne yells at River, Simon yells at Jayne, and then Mal has to yell at everyone.

"I'm hungry." The frail girl said.

"First sane thing I've heard since we landed." Wash said, hopping down of the bed.

"Crashed." Jayne corrected.

"Tomato, tomato." Wash countered as Zoë put her arm over his shoulder, "Either way its edible and I want some. Food, not tomatoes, well tomatoes are ok, but I'd like more than…so, who else?"

"Sure," Cadman said looking from River to Carson, her eyes asking if she was ok to be alone with these people. "We'll make it our first stop."

The cafeteria was on a different level than the infirmary, and since they were new to the city, but not new to stairs, she figured transporters would be the best and more fun way to get them there. When she'd opened the doors and stood back, Mal regarded it as a closet, asking if he was supposed to hang up his coat before dinner. She rolled her eyes, ushered him, Zoë, Wash and Jayne inside and told them to get out when the doors opened and wait for her. A small brown-red panel slid down on the wall behind them and she pressed her finger to it, it looked like a map. She stood back, the doors closed, and then opened again, but now she was gone. One by one they stepped out of the transporter, and into a very different looking hallway. The doors closed behind them and in moments let out Simon, River and Kaylee, who couldn't have been happier if she'd just been kissed by the aforementioned Dr.

Inara, Book, and the Lieutenant came after them. "This way." She said, getting back in position to lead them. The smell wafted through the corridors. It was actual, real food, not the protein bars and freeze dried le se they were sadly accustomed to, but food that had been grown, cleaned and cooked. They all took a moment to take in the smell and commit it to memory. Aside from getting help to fix Serenity, this was the next best thing to happen since they got here.

--

John made his way toward the 'Gate room, and Elizabeth's office. He wanted to spend as little time as possible getting his head chewed off and get over to the gym where Teyla would be waiting. Also, where he could get his ass kicked and try to talk to her at the same time.

He sat down in the chair opposite Elizabeth. She folded her hands on top of the desk, and looked him in the eye; he figured it was something she'd learned to do negotiator school. "You know why you're here, right?"

He felt like he was in school, "I brought back strangers?" she wasn't at all amused, "Look, I know, okay? But you didn't see that kid come out of the back room talking about Earth! You would have rather I'd left them for the Wraith?"

"I would have rather you'd contacted us before just showing up with them!" her eyes were serious, "This is becoming a very disturbing trend with you Colonel. And your behavior on the mission…Ronan didn't even come to the debriefing."

John rolled his eyes. Ronan was just as impulsive as John was, more so. "Look Elizabeth, I know, I'm sorry, next time I'll call first. Anyway, I was wondering if I could take Captain Reynolds along on that mission tomorrow?"

She looked at him a moment, trying to determine if he was going insane, "I don't think-" she was cut off by knock on her door, and the young Canadian man, who had taken over for Grodin, stuck his head in.

"The Daedalus will be here in couple hours."

"Thank you." She turned her attention back to John, who was gone. He'd taken the interruption as an out. Elizabeth turned quickly enough to see him headed down the steps. She tapped on her radio. "Okay. He can go, but don't think we're done here."

"_Of course. And thanks." _Was all the reply she got.

--

John slipped into the gym where Teyla was waiting. He pulled his sticks out of his bag and tossed it to the window seat and took up his position in the middle of the room. Teyla bowed, and joined him in the center of the room.

"It's been a long day." He said

"It has." And with out another word Teyla made her move forward and their sticks clashed. He still couldn't figure out how she moved like she did. He could hardly keep up with her arm movements, swing, jab, slap, swing, for now he was successfully blocking most of her efforts.

"We still haven't really talked you know. Agh." One of her sticks made contact with his leg and he took a step back to circle around her. The seeming fury behind her next few strikes told him that talking wasn't really on her list of things to do, and for a moment he wished he could have the upper hand again so he could pin her again and make her understand; make her talk.

She'd told him before that speaking while trying to do this particular activity was a bad idea. So, he'd take full advantage of it. She wouldn't speak, so as not to lose her concentration, and he could say anything he wanted. He just hoped she wouldn't hit to hard.

"When I said I was sorry…" he bent at the waist to doge one of her swings, but couldn't move fast enough to save himself from the smack he felt on his shoulder, "I only meant for the way..." he jumped back. _Was that aimed at my head? _"Teyla, you know I care-" her blows started to come faster. Maybe he could get the upper hand, she was clearly letting whatever she was feeling get to her, all he had to do was wait for an opening.

He ducked down, hiding from her stick, and struck out at her legs. He made sure to do more than just hit them, he took her down. He stood over her, keeping her down at the end of a stick. It crossed his mind that this would help nothing, but she wasn't giving him a chance otherwise.

"I care about you." He almost spit the words at her, afraid he might not be able to say them at all. "And I'm sorry for the stupid stick in your face…" he said, shaking it for emphasis before he lowered it to his side. "I just wanted to tell you, and, this may be a little cheesy, but I wish you'd just tell me what you were thinking. You don't have to be a warrior all the time."

He offered her his hand, and pulled her to her feet. She regarded him with silence. "Right, well." He said dejectedly. He went over to the window, picked up his bag and walked towards the door. "You know where I sleep."

--

Chinese in order of appearance:

Crazy talk

dog Crap

Garbage

Sorry for the horribly long wait, I have no excuse. I'm lazy. Classes start again tomorrow so my already random updates may be more so. I only have one class on Friday's so I'll try to do it then. It's been suggested I see 'Critical Mass' in consideration to "It Just Means", it airs Friday, so I'll take it in and hopefully pump out a chapter. I already know what I want to happen so we'll see what's up with 'Critical Mass'.

In regards to this story, I'll try to get more up as soon as possible. I promise it gets cooler.


End file.
